Chapter 934: Fellow Daoist, Please Stay!?

"I'm not entirely sure either," the middle-aged man said. "Word has it that those fiends are fiercely formidable. Even a few elders of the Supreme Lord rank are unwilling to clash with them head-on, so they plan to approach it from a different angle."

"A different angle?"

"What else could it be? Who doesn't have kin or friends? It's said that Supreme Lord Xuanfa is heading to the demon territories of the human realm this time."

"What kind of Dharma treasure is he going to fetch from the human realm?" The young man grew even more bewildered. What on earth was going on today? A few high and mighty elders going down to the lower realm, and yet they still had to come back to fetch some Dharma treasure?

"As of now, no one knows what other perils lurk within that human realm. Even Supreme Lord Miaofa suffered a setback there; this matter is of no small consequence, so none of you must go around talking nonsense," the middle-aged man said in a low voice. "This business is somewhat extraordinary. It seems to be connected to a supreme treasure of the human realm."

"Saying what?" The youth waved his hand listlessly and said, "This young master has absolutely no interest in such matters."

With that, he returned his focus to the game in his hands.

The middle-aged man could not help but feel a wave of curiosity and asked, "What is that in your hand?"

"This is a little plaything that's recently become popular in the Thousand Lanterns Immortal Market," the youth of the Gui clan said with considerable enthusiasm. "It's actually quite fascinating, and it even seems to understand human speech."

Then he opened his mouth and called out to the communication jade, "Shut down."

Swiftly, the game closed, and the communication jade lost its luster, turning dim and lifeless.

"You see? It's called an 'artificial artifact spirit' or something, and it can receive simple commands."

...

And at that very same moment... far away on the Immortal Relic Continent, in the Grand Jin Kingdom, within the Wuwei Daoist Alliance.

Inside a room, the light of magical artifacts flowed and turned. Nalan Mingxue's beautiful eyes flickered as she intently stared at one message after another appearing before her.

"How is it? Have you found any useful information?" All around her were the artifact masters of the Wuwei Daoist Alliance.

"Miss Nalan," just then, Li Haoran walked in and said, "you secretly interconnected all the transmission artifacts within these handheld consoles. Isn't doing this a bit too underhanded?"

"Moreover, for an affair this grand, you actually kept us entirely in the dark?" Li Haoran said with a hint of displeasure. "I hope Miss Nalan does not bring the scheming and infighting of the aristocratic clans into our research lab."

Message after message flashed past Nalan Mingxue's eyes. In a cold voice, she said, "These are extraordinary times, and Brother Haoran has known what kind of person I am since a long time ago."

She shook her head, seemingly entirely unconcerned. "I cannot change."

"You—!" Li Haoran was instantly exasperated by her demeanor.

Nalan Mingxue was somewhat distracted when she answered Li Haoran, because her gaze had suddenly locked onto one of the messages, her expression changing slightly. "Come and look at this!"

At that moment, those few lines of conversation from the courtyard of the Gui clan were transmitted almost completely into the ears of the people present!

"Word has it that those fiends are fiercely formidable. Even a few elders of the Supreme Lord rank are unwilling to clash with them head-on, so they plan to approach it from a different angle." It was precisely the voice of that middle-aged man!

"What else could it be? Who doesn't have kin or friends? It's said that Supreme Lord Xuanfa is heading to the demon territories of the human realm this time."

Li Haoran forgot his reproaches at this point, his face suddenly changing drastically. "The Demon Race... Xiaoyue!?"

"Not just Xiaoyue..." Nalan Mingxue propped her arms on the table, her slender fingers resting against her delicate chin as she deduced, "From the looks of it, they must have bumped into a wall with the boss, so they plan to employ some underhanded methods."

Li Haoran's expression could not help but grow grave now. "What should we do then? Even if we have some power to resist when facing these immortals, even that senior's power is probably limited. It's impossible for him to protect everyone!"

"That senior's power is probably not as strong as we imagined," Nalan Mingxue rubbed her temples, saying with a bit of a headache. "Otherwise, he wouldn't wait until the critical moment every single time to make his move."

"These scoundrels!" Li Haoran could not help but grit his teeth. "Their strength is inferior, so they secretly deploy these dishonorable tactics. They simply do not deserve to be called immortals!"

After he finished speaking, only a blanket of silence remained in the entire surroundings.

"They are despicable, but what of it if they secretly deploy underhanded tactics?" Nalan Mingxue's tone remained flat. "History has always been written by the victors. I dare guarantee that if the boss loses this battle, within a hundred years, he will be classified as the number one great archdemon under heaven."

"As for the disasters caused by this war, they will all be dumped upon this greatest archdemon."

She spoke, "Though I do not know why these high and mighty immortals refuse to let go of a tiny human realm, there is no need to think to know that there must be an immense profit hidden within, and..."

"They have also sensed that these ants are beginning to be capable of threatening them!" Nalan Mingxue said. "They feel the threat, so they will inevitably strangle it in its cradle!"

Li Haoran shrugged. "I'm just an artifact master, how can I care about so much? Better notify the boss quickly."

...

At this time, Boss Fang was still at the new shop in the East Continent.

Those few Immortal Lords led their hosts to station themselves thirty li away, sending a few elders to provoke them every day, which made Boss Fang rather annoyed. If he fought his way out, he feared it was a ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain; if he didn't fight out, these old fellows were extremely quick to seize an opportunity, often oiling their feet and slipping away before the Three Fairies could even manifest.

This left Boss Fang wondering whether he should have the Three Fairies set an ambush. After all, everyone fought fair and square in the Investiture of the Gods; no one operated like this.

Just then, Boss Fang suddenly received a message from Nalan Mingxue: "Be careful, they are merely throwing dust in your eyes. Their true objectives are... the Demon Race, the Elven Forest, the Haotian Academy, the Liuyun Daoist Palace, and other such places."

"..." Boss Fang hastily replied, "Playing dirty?!"

"Most likely." Soon, Fang Qi once again received Nalan Mingxue's message. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Half City has to deal with Jiuyou, the West Continent has to deal with the Divine Realm, and the East Continent has to deal with the Demon Realm. With a three-pronged attack, they have probably anticipated that you are spread too thin, and your power should be reaching its limit, right?" Nalan Mingxue said. "Their intention is to divide your forces yet again."

"..." There was only a stretch of silence.

Fang Qi looked at the high-grade synchronizing stone in his hand. The condition for using the synchronizing stone was that he had to reach ten percent of the synchronized character in the cultivation room; the Three Fairies were already close to his current limit.

As for the Sect Leader level, for now, it was still somewhat desirable yet unattainable.

Of the five high-grade synchronizing stones, Yang Jian, Kong Xuan, the Ten Heavenly Masters, and the Three Fairies had used four in total, leaving merely one remaining.

A single synchronizing stone, yet it had to resolve the perils of four directions.

Thinking back to his previous jest about confronting the three realms, he suddenly found it a bit ridiculous. "Riding a tiger and finding it hard to get off..."

But reflecting upon it, what else could he do? Now everyone knew he possessed a supreme treasure, and they were all staring dead at it, waiting to snatch it.

"If there really is no other way..." Nalan Mingxue seemed to be stating a fact. "I suggest you abandon some people and make a choice."

"No way!" Boss Fang replied.

"Otherwise, what can you do?"

Just at this moment, he suddenly thought of someone!

"Haven't you heard a saying? Only children make multiple-choice questions." Boss Fang stretched out his hand and said, "I want them all!"

Nalan Mingxue: "..."

...

At the same time, upon the Holy Emperor Mountain, Supreme Lord Xuanfa had taken several supreme treasures that had been enshrined in the Holy Emperor Palace for untold tens of thousands of years, and came down the mountain looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

"If this trip goes smoothly..." Leading a few elders, Supreme Lord Xuanfa rode the auspicious clouds across the vast, boundless sea, heading directly toward the Demon Execution Platform.

En route, he suddenly caught sight of a beam of light drifting and settling upon a lofty mountain that pierced the sky and occupied the earth, turning the sun and generating clouds. He could not help but be struck by surprise. "How is it that I have never seen this mountain before?"

Lowering his cloud, he walked inside out of curiosity to take a look, clicking his tongue in admiration. The pines were lush and evergreen throughout the four seasons and eight festivals, and the stones were rugged, remaining unchanged for ten thousand years and a thousand ages. It was truly a fine immortal mountain. "I wonder which rustic immortal resides in this place?"

Just as he was about to explore further inside, he suddenly heard a voice drifting from behind him: "Fellow Daoist, please stay your steps."

"!!??" Supreme Lord Xuanfa was suddenly startled. This person had actually walked up behind him without him realizing it at all!?

He hurriedly whipped his head around. "Who is it!!??"